What is tempering?

What is tempering?
Tempering is a heat treatment process that reduces brittleness and improves the toughness and machinability of the material by heating the quenched material to an appropriate temperature and then cooling it slowly.

The tempering process includes the following steps:

Quenching: First, the material is heated to an appropriate temperature, and then cooled rapidly to produce a high hardness and brittle structure.

Heating: Heating the quenched material to an appropriate tempering temperature. The tempering temperature is usually lower than the quenching temperature and can be determined according to the composition and requirements of the material.

Hold: After reaching the tempering temperature, keep the material at that temperature for a period of time to ensure even temperature distribution.

Cooling: Slowly cool the material to room temperature. Slower cooling reduces brittleness and increases the toughness of the material.

Through tempering, the structure of the material will change, the hardness will decrease, but the toughness and machinability will increase. Tempering adjusts the properties of a material to better suit specific application needs.

Tempering is often used on quenched steel to improve its toughness and machinability. The specific tempering temperature and time should be determined according to the composition and requirements of the material. It is recommended to consult a professional material engineer or steel supplier to obtain more accurate information.